Adjustable stilt step



April 11, 1950 M. HELLER 2,503,733

ADJUSTABLE STILT STEP Filed July 3, '1947 INVENTOR:

Patented Apr. 11, 1950 I'M-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application July 3, 1947, Serial No. 758,949 In Great Britain July 22, 1946 1 Claim. (Cl. 27270.2)

The present invention relates to stilts and has for its object improvements which enable a simple construction and ensure quick and reliable displacement of the height of the foot-supports.

According to the present invention the adjustable stilts comprise rigid poles and .foot-supports wherein said poles are provided with a number of vertically arranged apertures the latter forming sockets for holding in upright position detachable U-shaped foot-supports, said apertures extending over a substantial length of said poles and allowing said foot supports of perpendicular adjustability.

The construction and the features involved in the present invention provide pleasure and exercise and the stilts are equally suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Moreover the stilts according to this invention prevent bodily injuries and enable beginners to acquire skill in walking on stilts in a very short time.

Various embodiments and details of the invention are described hereinafter and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a stilt,

Fig. 2, a perspective view of a foot-support according to the invention,

Fig. a detail of the foot-support.

Referring to the drawings, the stilt shown in Fig. 1 consists of a rigid pole I made of tube having a number of verti ally and equally spaced apertures 2 the latter being arranged in a line at either side of the tube Wall. Said pole l is provided with a base member 3 which is preferably made of soft material such as rubber to avoid noise when the stilts are used indoors. The underside of said member 3 may be granulated or have a roughened pattern so as to prevent slipping and the top of this stilt may be provided with a terminal member 4 which when consisting of soft material such as rubber has the advantage of minimizing injuries if a stilt walker stumbles or has a fall.

Said pole I is provided with a rigid U-shaped foot-support and both of its limb ends pass through the thickness of the tube, the foot-support being secured to the pole l by friction as more fully described below with reference to Figure 2. The foot-support 5 may be provided with a soft or rigid pad 'I for widening the area of said support when made of rods or narrow material but said pad I may be omitted if wider material is employed. The U construction of the foot-support in accordance with this invention affords great strength even when said support is made of comparatively thin or light material this latter feature being of importance since it allows of the employment of small apertures which do not unduly reduce the strength of said pole l. The releasable joints formed between said support 5 and pole I ensure easy and quick adjustability regarding the height of said support 5 and the apertures 2 extending over a considerable part of the length of a pole ensure a wide range of adjustability. Moreover, said apertures may start from as low a point of the stilts as possible in order to make it easier for learners to acquire quick proficiency in walking on stilts.

The foot-support in Fig. 2 is a view of the support 5 without the pad shown in the previous figure and is characterized in that the lower part of this foot-support is bent twice in opposite direction towards its open end 8 and the latter may extend till about the middle of pole I or may pass through the whole thickness of said pole. abuts against the outer wall of pole I when said support is loaded whilst the top end I0 is roughened and the foot support is held in position by friction occurring when pressure is applied to the o posite end of this foot-support thus formin? readily detachable joints with its pole without necessitating any fixing members. The footsupport as shown in this figure has several advantages e. g. the vertical portion 9 when abutting against a pole increases greatly the rigidity and strength of said support and a reliable connection of the latter with the pole is obtained.

The roughened end It has a number of serrations which under load lock in the small aperture 2 of the pole I as shown in Figure 3.

I claim:

A substantially U-shaped stilt foot support formed of metal rod or small cross-sectional area throughout, said foot support comprising an upper limb having a serrated portion capable of projecting through a first small aperture in a stilt pole and of locking itself in said small aperture under the action of a load on the foot support, and a lower limb bent twice and having an The vertical portion 9 of this foot-support 4 end portion capable of projecting into a second UNITED STATES PATENTS small aperture spaced from said first small aper- Number Name Date ture and an abutting portion adjacent to said 120 952 Emmert 14 3 end portion and capable of abutting against said 218:457 schultheis 1879 Stilt pole under the action Of a 103d on the f ot 5 35 3 Loveland Jam 1 1 7 Support 450,357 Johnson Apr. 14, 1891 MAXIMILIAN HELLER 1,427,030 Stephens et a1 Aug. 22, 1922 2,057,013 Curtis Oct. 13, 1936 REFERENCES CITED 1 FOREIGN PATENTS The following references are of record in the N be C u t file of this patent: um r 0 n ry Date 457,587 Great Britain Dec. 1, 1936 

